High Holidays

Why does my blood sugars have to be high during the Christmas season? Oh yeah, maybe cuz there’s so many treats and goodies around!

I have always been good to watch out for the sweets since I was diagnosed… even refused to eat my own birthday cake one year because of all the sugar! Yeah, my mom yelled at me later to just eat it without the icing, and I was surprised to see that my blood sugar level didnt skyrocket! Little more insulin, and everything was good.

But why is it that around Christmas time this year that I am having a prolonged high blood sugar? I do watch the sweets and take my normal amount of insulin! This morning (Christmas Eve) I discovered my issue.

I woke up with a blood sugar level of 232 mg/dL, which is very abnormal for me in the morning. I tend to have lower sugar levels in the AM, so I’m usually running for juice. This morning I awoke and ran to the bathroom, the classic and most common symptom of having high blood sugar. I also was extremely dehydrated and felt nauseous. Naturally, I gave myself a big boost of insulin and laid down til it kicked in. An hour later, and nothing happened. Still felt sick, unmotivated and was still HIGH! Egh, just what everyone wants to wake up to on Christmas Eve, right?

Shortly afterwards, I received the alarming and continuous BEEEEEEEEEEEEP from my OmniPod Insulin Pump. I had an occlusion. Great, that’ll explain the highs. Occasionally this happens when the sensor (or tube inside my skin) gets a somewhat backwash, or liquid going back into the insulin pump instead of coming out of it. The backwash can be either water, insulin or sometimes blood from the site. I knew it was the insulin because I had just given myself a 2nd boost for the morning.

I just changed my pump site, but am still not feeling back to my normal self yet. Checked my sugar level again and found I was 338 mg/dL. No wonder I am still feeling sick to my stomach, headache and thirsty beyond belief! Even looking at food is making me nauseous, but I am glad the occusion happened before I left for the day. Otherwise I would be a verrrry grumpy Grinch for the family tonight.

All I want for Christmas is to find a cure for my diabetes. I hope that it is not too much to ask…. donations to JDRF would be a great Holiday gift, and can be done so by clicking here and visiting my team’s webpage. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone out there. Hope yours is better than mine has been thus so far.

Stuff (keeping language clean, here) happens. I’d suggest that if your pump site fails and you’re high like that, you probably haven’t gotten your basal for the last couple of hours, and you WILL go up. Check for ketones to be sure, and if there are ketones, you know you’ve got no insulin in your body whatsoever. So— add the last few hours worth of basal to your correction. (For me, when this happens I generally just give 6 units and wait to see what happens… there are so many unknowns that you can’t be scientific about it).

Just think about it for next time. This time, just enjoy your Christmas.

Meet The Diabetic

Hello. I am Calla Michalski,
and I am a Type 1 Diabetic.

T1D is not just me, but it does help to explain who I am. I was diagnosed at the age of ten, and I've been doing my best to manage my blood sugar levels, insulin intake, and food & carb ratios ever since!